Monthly Archives: May 2016

Fireman Mason James thought finding out he is a Romanus—a rare class of gargoyle—would be the surprise of a lifetime, but he’s proven wrong when he discovers he is the son of a comte and goji nobility. But his newly discovered family doesn’t think his gargoyle lover, Luc, is good enough for a goji of Mason’s stature—how could a warrior ever be? But despite the Moreaus’ uncertainty and elitism, they are Mason’s only chance to unravel the mystery behind his mother’s death, find a solution for the class divide that might separate him from Luc, and discover what it truly means to be a Romanus.

When Charles Macquarrie inherits a fortune and an international clothing company, he also inherits three young cousins he desperately needs help raising. By a stroke of luck, he discovers and hires Jonathan Lamb, who spent his life in a children’s home due to chronic illness, to be his nanny.

If Jon thought a budding romance with his wealthy boss complicated his life, he has no idea of the hardships awaiting him when he’s charged with embezzlement and kidnapping. But even when threatened by accounting discrepancies and mob connections, Jon and Charles won’t let go of the family they’ve built together without a fight.

Bullied as a child in small-town Kansas, Jeremy Cox ultimately escaped to Portland, Oregon. Now in his forties, he’s an urban park ranger who does his best to rescue runaways and other street people. His ex-boyfriend, Donny—lost to drinking and drugs six years earlier—appears on his doorstep and inadvertently drags Jeremy into danger. As if dealing with Donny’s issues doesn’t cause enough turmoil, Jeremy meets a fascinating but enigmatic man who carries more than his fair share of problems.

Qayin Hill has almost nothing but skeletons in his closet and demons in his head. A former addict who struggles with anxiety and depression, Qay doesn’t know which of his secrets to reveal to Jeremy—or how to react when Jeremy wants to save him from himself.

Despite the pasts that continue to haunt them, Jeremy and Qay find passion, friendship, and a tentative hope for the future. Now they need to decide whether love is truly a powerful thing or if, despite the old adage, love can’t conquer all.

Today is a very important anniversary for me, because three years ago today I signed my first publishing contract.

Content warning for really quite un-British gushing, and something that ended up sounding like an Oscar speech 😉 There is a giveaway at the bottom to make up for it.

Let me tell you how I got started with writing as a career, and why today is a day I will always celebrate.

I took the plunge into writing original fiction during Nanowrimo 2012, and drafted The Little Things in a hyperfocused blur. When it was finished, I submitted it to Samhain and wrote Nothing Serious while I was waiting to hear back from them. I subsequently submitted Nothing Serious to Carina UK (while still waiting to hear from Samhain).

In the middle of March 2013 I got rejections for both books in the space of a week.

Sex is not ‘routine’ any more. There are sex shops decorating the high-street, free porn all over the internet and let’s not even get started on the new BDSM phenomenon. So when things get a little ‘stale’ in the bedroom, what would you do?

Carlie made a suggestion; a suggestion I wanted nothing to do with at first, but she was my wife and I’d have done anything to make her happy. I went along with her plan, even though I really didn’t want to.
It actually worked, for a while.
Until something changed.
Then I wasn’t doing it for her anymore.
Instead, it was all about secret liaisons, stolen moments and the thrill of getting caught.
My life changed overnight and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Lust is an unstoppable emotion when it takes hold.
Rules are broken.
Mistakes are made.
Lives are destroyed.
Be careful what you wish for, because sometimes, that wish can come true.

Zachary Black was her wish.
…Until he became mine.

“I felt like I’d fucked up a lot in my life, but nothing as monumental as this. Somehow, I’d figured it wasn’t quite as bad if Zach was the one making the first move, but the second, the third? That was all me. At any time I could have, and should have, told him to back off. Told him he was wasting his time because I was a happily married man. And therein lay the issue. Because I wasn’t a happily married man. I was fucking miserable. My wife didn’t really like me, no matter what she claimed. I spent more time at work than at home. I was learning new things about myself that I wasn’t sure I liked, and more than anything, I was falling in love with a man faster than I could think to stop it.”

Wow I have to say, I had a lot of preconceived notions about this book before reading it and let it sit on my kindle since it first came out. After finally biting the bullet and reading it I have to say I really enjoyed it, far more than I imagined I would. I’m excited for book two and to see more of Blake and Zach.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Possible Spoilers🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I wasn’t sure I’d like Blake, the authors note in the beginning coupled with the fact that I detest cheating made me apprehensive when it came to his character. However I really like Blake and truthfully I felt a bit sorry for him. He had a very selfish and manipulative wife and he truly deserved better. He made mistakes for sure but I could see he wasn’t a bad person, a malicious person out for only his own happiness.

Zach was a little harder to like for me honestly. I felt he was a bit of a manipulator at first as well and I had to question his motives on more than one occasion. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where I changed my mind about him but I did start to like him and by the end I felt he could be good for Blake.

Carlie, I can’t stand her and while I hate to rub salt into people’s wounds I must say she deserved what happened to her marriage. She may have once been a good person but we didn’t really get to see it and her personality didn’t seem to go with how Blake was portrayed. Again it must be said she was manipulative, self centered, immature and moody.

As for the story, the cheating/affair, it didn’t resonate that way with me. Firstly so much of this story is about Blake and Carlie and how over the years their marriage began to disintegrate. How they began to want different things and how communication and the time they spent together drastically changed. His job got in the way, her need to show the world her perfect life became her main focus. Then we are introduced to the other man, a man she brought into the mix after manipulating and emotionally blackmailing Blake.

We see Blake questioning new feelings this man stirs in him and how it effects him, what it means to his marriage. The actual cheating is so small compared to the story as a whole that it’s almost not important in the grand scheme of everything that happens. To me at least it’s more about the end of a marriage, discovering who you truly are and what you want and need in life and having the courage to move on and not settle for something just because it’s easier.

Noah

by Cara Dee

Blurb: Have you ever woken up and expected to see destruction everywhere?

In 48 hours, I lost everything. I came home to find my girlfriend of four years with another man. The next day a plane crash ripped my family away from me, shattering me in the process. In many ways, I died that day, too. The fun-loving man who’d lived in the fast lane and loved his career in the film industry was gone. Left was a forty-year-old shell that dwelled at the bottom of a bottle.

Only one person knew what I was going through. My sister’s stepson, who hadn’t been on the plane. Julian knew what it was like to lose everyone he loved, too. He’d stopped showing up at reunions when he was a teenager, so I didn’t know him very well. But I told him at the memorial service he could come out and visit me in LA whenever. One day he did, and I guessed it was as good a day as any to start picking up the pieces and see what was left of us.

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. Hands down, 5 star read to me. Even with my initial apprehension since I am not a big fan of certain themes (May/December or Age-gap romance. Uncle/Nephew) I quickly found myself invested completely in the story. Cara Dee did a wonderful job handling the relationship between Noah and Julian with minimal angst. They were a beautiful couple and I liked both characters from beginning to end.

Believing Blue (Manchester Ménage Collection #3)

by Nicole Colville

Blurb: Is there a fated path we follow, or is it simply a series of coincidental events?

Police officer Kellan Howard is rumoured to have spent too much time in sub-zero temperatures, leaving him with a block of ice for a heart and women lining up to help thaw it. Mountain climbing is his only love, leaving no time for a relationship, and although meaningless sex satisfies his physical need, it’s empty. When he attends a fatal traffic accident, he didn’t expect his entire life to change. Along with a final message, Kellan is offered something else from the dying man: the chance to fall in love. Kellan’s never considered being with a man, but when he meets Valentino, he’s instantly drawn to him.

Suffering from crippling agoraphobia, talented Italian artist Valentino has a solitary existence, only experiencing life outside the house through his partner Stuart. When their relationship comes to an abrupt end, Kellan helps ease his suffering. A deep bond binds the two men together, and the sexual tension can’t be denied, but Valentino questions if the distance between their very different lives is too much, and if they can bridge the gap by themselves.

Ballet dancer Blue has a vibrant personality which demands attention, but his humour and courageous attitude are a shield. Blue’s good at making others believe in themselves, but what he needs is someone to believe in him. He could be the bridge both men are looking for, but Blue’s never allowed anyone to get too close, and when Kellan and Valentino enter his life, he desperately tries to protect his heart and his secrets.

When all three meet, the chemistry is undeniable, but each have fears about moving forwards. Together, they learn love comes in many forms. It can’t be restrained or labelled, and it doesn’t always appear in the way you first imagined.

**Blue is a standalone book, and although characters from previous books do make an appearance, it won’t spoil their stories if you choose to read them afterwards.

This was a hard book for me to rate when I first read it because I loved so many parts of it yet there were some major issues I had with it as well. Obviously this is a menage story and while I can usually appreciate a good menage or polyamorous book I wasn’t 100% on board with this one when all was said and done.

I loved Kellan and Valentino as individuals as well as a couple, they fit, they were believable and I found myself invested in their story. From the very beginning when we meet Kellan and then Stuart I could tell I was going to love Kellan. The way he comforted Stuart and kept his promise to him after such a traumatic experience made me cry.

Valentino also tore at my heart, his love for Stuart and the pain he felt with his loss was written so well I felt it. I could picture him trapped in that home without that connection he had to the outside world and what it took for him to try to overcome it while mourning the loss of his soulmate. His budding friendship with Kellan was done very well and had a natural feeling of progression unlike many books where characters quickly fall in love and barely grieve those they’ve lost.

I kind of liked Blue and I will admit I could see him and Kellan together. They were like fire and ice and it invoked passion. I could probably read an entire book about them as a couple. The problem though came when it was time to put Blue and Valentino together. I just didn’t feel it.

I didn’t quite understand what they saw in each other besides physical attraction. Maybe if they had spent more time together I could have seen the growth in their relationship and felt what pulled them together (other than Kellan). It just never seemed right or real to me, at least not enough to say they would have a HEA.

The writing was great and the other did a wonderful job of telling the story. I cried and I laughed many times throughout the book and as I said I fell in love completely with Kellan. I’d definitely recommend giving Believing Blue a chance.